Lornado

    As you may have noticed, it has been too nice to blog and I am still not ready to do so since I can't think of an easy topic. But, I did run across a sentence in the New York Times on the weekend which began with these words: " I went down to Lornado..." Perhaps I can turn it into a post. 
   Lornado is a good word, I think, and I was unfamiliar with it and had no idea where it was. It sounds rather exotic and one is reminded of the Larry McMurtry novel, The Streets of Laredo.  It is in Ottawa, however, and if W.J. Fields had died there, he still might have said, "I'd Rather Be in Philadelphia." 
   Lornado is the official residence of the U.S. Ambassador to Canada who, this week, is Pete Hoekstra from close-by Michigan. The Time's reporter was on his way there because there is always a big party at Lornado on July 4th. He was curious about how big it would be and very cautious about suggesting that it was not as big as it usually is. You will know that things are not good between our two countries and consorting with the enemy generally frowned upon. It appears that the affair was rather subdued, and the Canadians attending were well behaved. No Bronx cheers were delivered during the Ambassador's remarks.

Lornado the House
   Like the structure on 24 Sussex Drive and many other mansions in Canada, Lornado was built by someone from the United States and the United States purchased the 32 room building and ten acres in 1935. It has been the site of many events and you may have recognized the name from other news stories out of Ottawa.

Lornado the Word
   Apparently the original owner of Lornado, Mr. Soper, was a fan of the novel by R.D. Blackmore. The 19th century work is Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor, and from that you will be able to figure out the derivation of the word, "Lornado."

Lorna Doone the Biscuit
   I was familiar with the words "Lorna Doone", but as a cookie or shortbread, and I am not sure why Nabisco chose the name. It does appear, however, that Nabisco is no longer an American company so it is okay to buy some Lorna Doone shortbreads if you wish. 

 

Source:

   We have learned a lot from this post and credit should be given to, Ian Austen, author of, "Celebrating the U.S. in Canada During Turmoil in the Two Countries' Relations," NYT, July 5, 2025. 
   "The annual Fourth of July party hosted by the U.S. ambassador to Canada on the park-size grounds of his official residence has long been one of Ottawa’s biggest social events.
   But after months of President Trump belittling Canada’s viability as a nation and threatening to use economic chaos to force its annexation as the 51st state, the idea of gathering to celebrate the United States in Canada’s capital was, well, a bit awkward this year....
   The turnout was decidedly smaller than in past years, and the seating and food stations were somewhat scaled down. Many guests who have attended in past years told me they estimated the crowd was about half the usual size, though there were nevertheless a substantial number of people." 
   An attempt at humour by the Ambassador, did not go over well and is not that funny, but it is telling: 

   "The ambassador told his guests that he had been going around saying that Mark Carney, the prime minister, was wrong.

“He keeps saying that Canada’s going to be the fastest-growing economy in the G7,” Mr. Hoekstra said, referring to the Group of 7. “That’s not how this works. America and our president do not like being number two, so we will be the fastest-growing economy. We just passed a Big Beautiful Bill yesterday, which is going to energize our economy.”

   He did add his hope that Canada would become the second-fastest-growing economy within the group of industrialized nations."